Rodney, I am more inclined to think that suggestion might be “a tad” too politically ambitious. ECTEL has worked so far because, to varying degrees, the participating countries have been prepared to cede some of their sovereignty (and revenue) to make it work, and thanks to the OECS framework and successes, there would have been some precedence for that approach.

If the grouping was expanded, one may likely find that many of the (newer) countries might not want to follow the recommendations made – which currently they would be required to – and the entire machinery would most likely devolve into one where ECTEL becomes a research/advisory centre to inform decisions made by the individual countries (which is a void I think the CTU should be filling), rather that the unifying force that it currently is…